Dorinish: Dot Jarlett archive.

From the pages of the Irish Independent, dated (errr... I'll get back to you on that one), found amongst Dot Jarlett's clippings archive (presumably that's her writing next to the headline), here is the original skinny on John's purchase of Dorinish in 1967. As ye will know, of all of them, John was keenest on a rural idyll for the Fabs, whom he envisaged living together in a communal arrangement somewhere isolated; hence Dorinish, Greek islands, even Tittenhurst, apparently.
Anyway, Alistair Taylor bought it on John's behalf (and that is actually bought it - he was the legal owner and eventually had to write to John in order to remind him that the title needed to be transferred), and John duly transported the Kenwood caravan over as a first step, before visiting on a couple of occasions... though of course the plan came to naught in the end.
Hats off to Alistair for some impressive bullshitting here, nevertheless:

I didn't know the bit about George A. Birmingham and his Inviolable Sanctuary before. I bet you didn't either. Here is the relevant passage from that very tome re. "Inishbawn" a.k.a. Dorinish, in case ye are interested:

Kew: 79 Mortlake Road.

Freddie Lennon stayed at Kenwood for a time in late 1967, before deciding that he'd be better off somewhere a bit less isolated. To this end, a ground floor flat was found for him in nearby Kew, at 79 Mortlake Road (above). John came here at least once, after Fred had happened upon Cynthia in a local club and drunkenly admonished her. Cue cussing, as John hammered on the door here and allegedly advised Alf that, "If you can't keep your bloody mouth shut, the feud between us will be on again and we'll see what Fleet Street makes of that."
Now, those who feel, with some reason, that the flagrantly trivial is taken to self-parodic depths round these parts may wish to avert their eyes at this point, but amongst Dot Jarlett's clippings was a folder of related ephemera; for example, a luggage tag with the word "Beatles" scrawled on it, a postcard of Hoylake, some fan-related stuff from Japan, and then several items that are less obviously connected, including the following sheet from esteemed local bakers o' cake Cook & Butler, headed Christmas 1967:

The aforementioned Yule was unique in being the only Chrimble that John, as an adult, spent with his father. Fred joined the celebrations at Kenwood, and, though pure conjecture on my part, I bet that Dot was asked to look after Christmas dinner and get the cake in, and thus kept this sheet as a memento:

Edible nonsense. My thanks to Mr Mark Lewisohn for the Kew pic, and for sleuthing the address.

Tittenhurst: summer, 1971.

More from the Jarlett archive. She continued clipping long after John had moved on - and a good thang too; here, for example, from the Woman's Own, dated January 15th 1972 (but clearly taken the previous summer), a tour of Tittenhurst, accompanied by comments thusly:

"Their bedroom cum living room (1)(above) has areas for relaxing, areas for working. This very private room has a cluttered lived-in atmosphere. A large, low bed covered by a continental quilt stands at one end. An enormous colour television faces it (in the foreground of the picture), lamps, cigarettes are within easy reach, and it is surrounded by their favourite objects - paintings, a stereo record player - all stacked against the wall. Yoko says that she longs for the end of the day when she and John are finally alone up here. Beautiful Persian rugs partially cover the white carpet and at the far end of the room, out of the picture, stands Yoko's desk where she does most of her work."

"The Gallery (2 and 3)(above/below) is John and Yoko's favourite room. Starkly simple, all in white, it has been designed to show off Yoko's exhibition pieces and does so to perfection. John loves to come up here and tinkle away on the piano. "I worked very hard for what I've got. I earned every penny of it. I'm not awed or amazed anymore by what I've got," John says.But still he worries about the white carpet getting marked and visitors are asked to change into slippers on entering the house in typical Japanese fashion."

"The outside of the Lennon's new dream home (4)(below). They spent some time looking for their ideal house set in beautiful grounds with a lake - it had to have a lake. Nowhere they looked at came up to their ideal, either the house was right but the gardens weren't, or vice versa. Then they came across this one. The only problem - it didn't have a lake. So they made one. "It looks like it has been there for ever," says John, "but it has got a rubber bottom." It's got an island, too, topped with an enchanting little white summer house."

"The beautiful and enormous kitchen (5 and 8)(below) is John's pride and joy. Cool looking, modern stainless steel units have been successfully married with the warm tones of old pine furniture, a terracotta tiled floor. Yoko designed it herself and it gives a fascinating insight into the new John and Yoko, who were publicised a few years ago for chopping in half every piece of their furniture. This kitchen had to be big, because the house is always full of people. It had to be streamlined and easy to run. Every modern appliance is here, even an infra red oven so that meals can be heated in seconds. The curving iron staircase (5) rises to John and Yoko's apartments. This part of the house , consisting of their bedroom, bathroom, another tiny kitchen and the terrace, is private - apart from John and Yoko, only the cleaners enter this very personal area."

"A private bathroom (6)(below)leads off their bedroom. Focal point of this room is an enormous curving bath designed for use by two people. "We do everything together," says John. "We want always to be together. We even bath together." Behind the bath, in an alcove, are bottles of beautiful smelling goodies and a telephone sits on the bath edge, a constant reminder of the world outside. Two heavy marble basins, a his and a hers, stand against one wall, and a small Gothic patterned chest, standing against another, hold reading matter and music scores."

"The terrace (7)(below) has traditional white wrought iron garden furniture standing among a mass of pot plants and trees. A dove-coat perches on the end of the terrace, the home of cooing white doves."

Kenwood: July, 1964.

I recently acquired Dot Jarlett's clippings archive, for the princely sum of 50 quid. Lots of innaresting bits and, moreover, bobs. The earlier ones were apparently cut out by John himself... and here is the very earliest, providing shurely the first press mention of Kenwood, from the Daily Herald, Wednesday July 15th 1964.
This picture, then, taken before the Lennons took up residence - and one wonders what they were doing giving interviews about the place when it was supposed to be a big secret.
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